By IANS
Swat (Pakistan) : Tribal militants have released 130 more security personnel in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) where a week of fierce fighting had left at least 200 dead.
Online news agency Sunday quoted Maulana Siraj-ud-Din, spokesman of diehard cleric Maulana Fazlullah as saying that the released troops had surrendered voluntarily Friday night “because we assured them that they would be allowed to return to their homes safely. Now we have no soldier in custody.”
The tribal supporters of Maulana Fajlullah, who wants to introduce Islamic laws in the area, have been fighting the federal government, which had recently deployed some 2500 troopers to bring the volatile province under control.
Following the surrender of the security personnel Friday, the militants took over the police station in Matta area and seized the armoured carrier vehicle of troops in KwaZakhele.
The militants Friday set free a group of some 50 security personnel they had captured Thursday.
Meanwhile, this scenic valley remained under the control of Fazlullah and his followers. The militants were openly patrolling Matta, Charbagh and KwaZakhele and checking passing vehicles and the people.
The markets in Mingora, Matta and KwaZakhele, closed down in the wake of clashes between militants and the security personnel, have started reopening as a result of a ceasefire brokered by local leaders, Online said